


Even in Death

by 00FFFF



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Angst, Death, Team ZIT, demise - Freeform, mentions of gore, no beta we die like Doc getting caught in inescapable traps, season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28452105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00FFFF/pseuds/00FFFF
Summary: Demise was supposed to be over. Everybody was supposed to come back to life. But then... why were Tango and Impulse still grey?
Relationships: Are they in a relationship? You Decide!
Comments: 19
Kudos: 64





	Even in Death

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gridaph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gridaph/gifts).



> You are the absolute _master_ of angst, so I hope I could do your expectations justice!! <3

Zedaph never really liked Demise. Despite what most people thought of him, he didn’t like the concept of toying with one’s own code for the sake of a silly game. Playing with death just felt... wrong. He’d had his fair share of playing spooky death-themed games last year during Halloween, and that was more than enough for Zedaph. He’d even worn a dark cloak and everything! 

He’d pretended to be dead. He pretended to be _Death._ Keyword being ‘pretended’. Because now... the hermits _actually_ died as a part of the game. Grian had somehow convinced Xisuma to alter the code so that instead of respawning, the hermits would... change. Turn grey. Turn into living corpses. Not unlike what Cleo was before the start of this game, except much, _much_ more unsettling to be around.

Zedaph never signed up for the game in the end. He didn’t think that nearly everybody else would, however.

He felt alone.

Even the hermits that hadn’t died yet, those that were still alive _still_ made him feel rather uncomfortable. 

Zedaph learned the hard way that he wasn’t safe from death himself, either. Doc had called him over for some help with his new project, which ultimately led to Zedaph’s ‘demise’. Doc used him, used his head to bargain with the server’s new Grim Reaper. Since he wasn’t involved in the game, Doc reasoned, Zedaph could still respawn normally. It was fine. Zedaph groaned when he woke up in his bed. That had to have been one of the worst respawns he’d ever experienced.

He decided to keep his distance from all people from then on out.

He happily worked on his own projects, taking his time in the gaming district. It’d be a while before everything, before every _body_ went back to normal, so Zedaph didn’t allow himself to worry about completing his own minigame in a rush. It was nice, working on something at a leisurely pace. Every time something _clicked_ and _worked_ he’d jump with joy at the new development.

Zedaph chipped away at his builds, enjoying the relative peace as most of the hermits were occupied in something completely different. No wars in the distance, no screaming throughout the shopping district, no nothing. Zedaph strolled casually throughout the world, shivering when he’d unexpectedly spot one of the hermits’ grey figures in the distance. Watching him.

It was fine. It was to be expected that more and more hermits would demise in due time. It was only natural that they’d show up more and more.

Still, Zedaph made sure to avoid talking to them. Avoid seeing them at all, if he could. They gave him the creeps.

He avoided the grey hermits completely, until his communicator buzzed twice.

_ <impulseSV blew up> _ _  
_ _ <Tango blew up> _

Zedaph didn’t know what to think. 

Where? Where were they? Where did they respawn? 

With his heart beating in his throat Zedaph shot off with his elytra, searching all locations he knew for his recently demised friends. He had so much confidence in them. He really thought that they could hold out, that they could _win._

That they wouldn’t die.

He found them, eventually. In the graveyard. Rising from the ground.

They looked... they looked _different._ Not just grey, but _dead._ Impulse was missing a huge chunk of his skull. Tango was missing a huge chunk of his _ribcage._ Zedaph shivered when their eyes caught his. He ran. He couldn’t face them. Even from afar they didn’t feel like his friends anymore.

But Zedaph couldn’t stay away. The server felt awfully lonely and awfully _dangerous_ after Tango and Impulse had demised. He sought them out, went back to the graveyard to catch a glimpse of them.

They looked like they were doing alright. Discussing redstone and other building ideas with the other dead hermits. Zedaph kept hidden behind Grimdog’s crypt, holding his breath every time a hermit walked past. He... he _missed_ them. Had so much time really passed that Zedaph started _missing_ them already? Their laughs, their ways of speaking... How long has Zedaph spent on his own by now? It couldn’t have been that long, could it?

Eventually the demised hermits flew off and started preparing things for their big plans, but Tango and Impulse stayed behind. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Zedaph emerged from behind the crypt, and faced his friends.

They looked surprised, but welcomed him. Something about that felt... weird.

Tango reassured Zedaph that they were doing fine, that they were just doing their part, their duty in what was expected of them. That they were even having _fun._

Fun, killing other hermits. Fun, setting deadly traps and luring people in. _Fun,_ watching the world around them die.

Zedaph didn’t like the sound of that at all.

It was as if no time had passed at all before Doc was demised, effectively ending the game.

One by one colour returned to the hermits’ faces. One by one they cleared all the traps, and slowly the world was starting to feel more and more alive. Hermits dared to populate the shopping district again. Shops were restocked, profits were collected. Zedaph must have seen everybody pass him by, except for those two.

In hindsight that should have been the first red flag.

Zedaph knew that Demise couldn’t be trusted.

His suspicions were confirmed when he met Tango and Impulse, long after the game was over.

They were still grey.

They were still _dead._

Maybe it takes time, Zedaph thought, trying to reason with himself. He shouldn’t worry, they’ll turn back sooner than later. 

Weeks passed, and Tango and Impulse were the only ones who were still grey.

But perhaps what worried Zedaph the most, is that Tango and Impulse didn’t even seem bothered by it in the slightest. In fact, they tried to convince Zedaph that they were _okay_ with it, that nothing was wrong at all. How could nothing be wrong?! How could they not see how _wrong_ this all was?!

Concerned, and more than a little unnerved, Zedaph tried to contact Xisuma. Or any other hermits who could help fix this or even just talk about it. But Zedaph couldn’t get a hold of anybody. Were they all busy? Were they all avoiding him for some reason? Zedaph knew he hadn’t spoken to anybody in a while and instead just... watched from a distance, but this was ridiculous. 

Not that he felt like hanging out with anybody, to be fair. He was way too occupied with his friends’ worrying situation.

Time went by too slow and way too fast all the same. One moment Zedaph was adding the finishing touches to his new minigame, and the next Xisuma announced that they’re bringing this season to an end. 

Now that he mentioned it, the game of Demise itself seemed to go by in the blink of an eye as well... But this was no time to think about that. The hermits were leaving. They were leaving them behind!

Zedaph tried desperately to stop them. To tell them that _Impulse and Tango are still dead,_ but they went through with it anyway. Zedaph couldn’t. He couldn’t move on to a new world without his friends. He stayed behind, for them. He’d find a way to bring them back, and then they’d join the rest in the New World. One way or another.

So much time had passed, that it felt like no time had passed at all. Tango and Impulse were remarkably happy with their situation. An air of lightheartedness followed wherever they went. Zedaph didn’t understand.

Was Demise still going? No, it couldn’t- Iskall was declared the winner. Everybody else regained their colours, everybody else regained their _lives._ Why weren’t Tango and Impulse turning back? What was going on?!

Zedaph tried to think back to anything that might have caused this. They... they died together. In that shop. Was that it? Some sort of glitch? Could that possibly solve this issue? Maybe... maybe if they died again, they’d turn back? Zedaph sighed. He didn’t even sound confident in his own thoughts. He was starting to get frustrated. It didn’t make any sense. None of this made sense at all!

Time crept forward as Zedaph looked for a cure. A clue, a hint, _anything._

He felt like he’d been wandering aimlessly across the server more often than not. He’d inspected every single book, every single building, every single command block he came across.

Nothing.

He was starting to lose hope in ever bringing his friends back to life. In ever talking to them like normal human beings again. In even looking into their eyes and seeing a _soul_ behind them, instead of this- this _emptiness._

Defeated, Zedaph found himself back at Doc’s site. The Infinity Portal swirling in the distance, catching his eye. This was the last place where he saw all the hermits before they disappeared into the New World. Into the next season. 

This was where he left them. Watched them move on without him. Where it seemed as if they completely forgot about Impulse and Tango altogether.

Zedaph walked back, feeling strangely _cold_ when he passed a particular spot. He looked up at the monstrosity of a build above him. 

He... he recognized this! This is where Doc killed him for his head! For his _soul!_

Zedaph smiled to himself at the memory, what a strange encounter that was. He wasn’t even _in_ Demise, his head didn’t matter at all. At least his death was useful. It kept Doc alive for a little bit longer. 

Zedaph chuckled to himself, but still felt cold. Something... something was _wrong._

In the distance he could see Tango and Impulse approaching. Their grey figures stark against the colorful background of trees. What were they doing all the way out here? Last he saw them they were back at the main island, weren’t they? 

Zedaph felt nervous all of a sudden. The sight of his two friends, his two _dead_ friends sent chills down his spine. He didn’t understand. He’d been looking at them like this for months, now. Trying to find a way to bring them back to life. He was used to their rotting faces, as creepy as they were the first time he saw them. Why did their presence suddenly... _frighten_ him?

Was it something to do with this place? So near where all their friends left them for- for _dead?_ Zedaph looked around. He looked up again. 

Doc killed him here. Doc killed him. Zedaph wasn’t in the game and Doc _killed_ him.

Zedaph thinks he understands.

It was never about Tango and Impulse.

It’s about _him._

Zedaph’s heart is beating in his throat, until suddenly it isn’t anymore. He presses a hand to his chest. Silence.

Tango and Impulse walk closer.

“You know, don’t you? You figured it out.”

Zedaph’s throat feels hoarse. “Yeah, I... I think I do.”

Tango closes his eyes, those _red_ eyes, and Impulse gives him a sympathetic smile.

“We couldn’t leave you behind,” He says. “With everything else that was going on, we just- we couldn’t drop the news on you. You had to figure it out on your own.”

Zedaph nods. He’s speechless. He doesn’t know what to say.

“...I’m dead.” 

Like magic (and maybe it _was_ magic holding him together), the illusion fades. Zedaph holds up his hands before his eyes, and watches as they drain of all colour. 

Grey.

Even his clothes lose their colours. Zedaph looks up and the world itself seems duller as well. 

Tango and Impulse are still grey, too. They’re still dead. 

But they’re smiling. There are tears in their hollow, empty eyes.

Zedaph pulls a glass pane from his inventory, trying to catch a glimpse of his reflection. 

He’s grey. His eyes are red. Red, like Tango’s. No pupils, like Impulse.

They’re dead.

Zedaph’s dead.

Doc killed him and respawn didn’t work because Xisuma tampered with the code and Zedaph’s _dead._

Tango and Impulse grab him into a hug. They hold him tightly, but Zedaph feels no warmth.

“I’m so sorry,” Impulse says. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

Zedaph presses his mouth shut.

“We’re glad you did, though,” Tango adds. “We’re glad you’re still here, with us.”

A shiver runs down Zedaph’s spine.

“Wh- _why?”_ He chokes. “Why did you-? You had the chance to change back. Why didn’t you? Why stay behind? Why _do_ this?”

“We stick together. Team ZIT for life,” Impulse says.

“Team ZIT, even in death,” Tango nods.

Zedaph bites back a sob, and finally wraps his arms around his two dead companions. He holds them so tight that he almost worries about them not being able to breathe, before he realizes.

It barely sinks in.

He died. He actually died. Permanently. No respawn, no nothing. Zedaph chuckles dryly. No wonder nobody has been interacting with him. Did they even know he was still here? And Tango and Impulse, they... 

They stayed dead so they could be with him.

And now everybody else left. Left them behind. Moved on.

Zedaph feels tears trickle down his face. A sob wracks its way through his body. Tango and Impulse hold him even tighter.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Tango says. “We’ve still got each other. And a whole world full of amazing builds to explore and add on to. We’ve got all the time in the world.”

“That we do,” Impulse says.

Zedaph pulls away, and looks from Tango, to Impulse, to his own, grey hands.

He takes a deep breath, conjuring up the smallest of smiles.

The strange portal swirls behind them.

“So... shall we go, then?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I know it was short-ish, but I drew [this](https://imgur.com/a/Zvk9hcx) to go along with the fic, so I hope you enjoyed!! <3 Let me know what you thought?
> 
> Here's to this next year being filled with amazingness and good vibes!!


End file.
